Chapter 54: Illusion Smoke Villain – Haze Fog ①

I thought it was just a delivery, but to be safe, I kept the door locked as I carefully opened it.

"Miss Inori~. Mind hiding me for a bit~?"

"...Who the hell!?"

Standing there was a beautiful woman.

She had long black hair, a checkered shirt worn loose, and soft drooping eyes with a beauty mark under one of them that drew attention. She gave off a sultry kind of allure.

She called me by name like we were close, but I had no acquaintance like this.

When my confusion showed, the beauty laughed with a peculiar "Ohoho"—a laugh I knew all too well.

"This is our first time meeting like this. I’m Poison Mist."

"That’s a lie!"

Sure, she had the checkered shirt, and the laugh matched too, but that was it. At most, the glasses looked the same, maybe. But still—different gender.

And yet, this world was full of strange powers.

I myself had a freakish regeneration ability. I’d even experienced a forced sex change before.

So I couldn’t just dismiss this person as spouting nonsense.

I forced myself to calm down and once more observed the woman in front of me.

Her complexion was a little pale, with dark circles under her eyes that looked like they’d been there for years.

Her eyelids were heavy, but her features were well-balanced, undeniably beautiful—an unlucky beauty, or maybe a femme fatale.

Her figure was great too—no, no, no, this wasn’t the time for aesthetic appreciation.

I held my head and let out a long, heavy sigh.

"...Fine, I get it. At the very least, you’re definitely connected to Poison Mist. Those glasses you’re wearing are the exact same—the serial number engraved on the frame arm, 000056, matches the one I saw before."

The serial number was etched inside the arm.

Back when I met Poison Mist, there was a brief moment when he wiped sweat from his face and slid his glasses off. That’s when I caught a glimpse of it.

My memory was abnormally sharp, and maybe thanks to my regeneration, so was my eyesight.

Now, as if to fill the silence while deciding how to explain herself, the woman in front of me took off her glasses and polished the lenses with a cloth. That revealed the serial number.

She was still beautiful without the glasses, which honestly made it worse. Beautiful either way—give me a break.

She beamed happily, while I could only think, Please, just spare me.

"Ohoho! Miss Inori, you’re like a great detective!

These are actually collaboration glasses based on Dogma, the protagonist of the detective anime Locked Room Dogma!

You have a superb eye for detail and memory!

I’d love to play a murder mystery with you sometime!"

"I don’t know that game, but before you start explaining murder mysteries, how about explaining yourself? Seriously.

Fine, I’ll let you in for now."

Priorities, dammit. Explaining your collaboration glasses comes later.

Jin was in the living room, peering over his newspaper at me with a glare.

"Jin, you know this one?

Is she safe?

Should I kill her?"

"Shut up. Don’t know her."

"Ohhh. Usuzumi, you’re off to a surprisingly good start."

"So that’s how you rack up good impression points?

Like a hidden-route character in a romance sim, eh?"

I never once thought of Jin as a romance option. Usuzumi really was amazing.

Was Jin’s low killing intent just because the intruder was a beauty?

Then why the hell wasn’t he soft on me?

"Anyway, let’s not get stuck on that.

Back to business—what the hell happened to you?"

We sat facing each other in the living room, me and the droopy-eyed beauty.

Thank god Sudama wasn’t here, or I’d have gotten scolded for “assembling another parade of monsters.”

Usuzumi clasped her fingers together, stared at them, and began to chatter.

"If I gave you the full technical rundown, Miss Inori, you’d probably understand better as a medical student.

But I hear otaku tend to ramble, so I’ll keep it simple.

Or perhaps I’ll phrase things in a way that would mislead a layperson, trusting your knowledge to sort it out.

My ability is a drug-based constitution.

I can generate various chemical substances from my bodily fluids, and I also possess the resistance and immunity to withstand them.

Using this, I can nullify side effects and maximize benefits, letting me employ reckless drugs that only work on me."

That was already long enough—mostly the preamble.

She spoke quickly, but I managed to follow and sort it out in my head.

"So… this body of yours is one of those reckless drugs?

Female hormones?"

"Ohohoho! As expected, quick on the uptake. Precisely.

To be exact, when we last met I was heavily manipulating things like male hormones.

Since most of my ability uses bodily fluids, a body with high metabolism is basically a combat form.

Apologies—I tend to keep a heavy guard up with strangers."

So, by using her toxin resistance, she could ingest drugs that would kill a normal person.

By doing so, she boosted male hormones and reshaped her body to appear almost entirely male.

I wasn’t wrong to think, when I first heard about Poison Mist, that he had a mad scientist streak.

In other words, he has no hesitation using his own body as a guinea pig—and naturally, that makes it easy for him to turn other people into experimental subjects too.

It was a despair-inducing thought.

So the truth is, Poison Mist’s real form is this beautiful woman in front of me.

I thought I might finally have an otaku friend of the same age and gender—but now, she’s a beauty, and I can’t even talk about otaku stuff without getting nervous!

Still, this isn’t about my social life.

Poison Mist—no, to avoid confusion, I’ll call him Usuzumi when he’s in this form.

Back when he was a chubby middle-aged man, the name Usuzumi made me think only of octopi.

But now, in this beauty form, the name somehow evokes a refined, ink-and-wash painting kind of image.

I like octopi, and honestly, I had a good impression of that old form too—but damn, I was way too easily swayed by appearances. How shallow.

I forced myself to switch my mindset and accept that the middle-aged man I knew and the beautiful woman before me were the same, and that Poison Mist was indeed Usuzumi.

"I see… well, I’m glad you trust me, but maybe you’re letting your guard down too fast.

After all, I’m being targeted by Delta. There’s a chance of collateral damage, so please come see me in your old body next time."

"Ohohoho, is that acceptable!?

Wonderful! So I may assume you’ll treat me without prejudice even in that form?"

"Yeah. Honestly, I actually prefer that form. Not that I’m into chubby girls or anything—it’s just that the round shape makes them more approachable. Like a mascot, you know?"

"I see. A new perspective indeed. Miss Inori, you are interesting, ohoho."

To be blunt—Usuzumi, in this form, was my type.

If my body were male, if I had no real worries, and a decent income, I might have tried to flirt right here.

Her otaku tendencies only added to her appeal. Similar hobbies are always a plus.

The only concerning part? That she’s an assassin currently working for public security.

"But right now, I’m in this form partly as a disguise.

Our lab was attacked."

"Were you okay?"

Usuzumi pulled a test tube from her pocket, placed it on the table, and bowed her head toward me.

"My deepest apologies. I managed to protect the actual sample of the drug you entrusted me with, but the analysis data… might have been taken. I’m embarrassed at my lack of power."

"You did plenty. Thanks. And what I was worried about wasn’t the drug—it was you."

"Ohohoho! Miss Inori, you are kind! That kind of comment will get people easily confused!"

"...Well, I don’t mind being the one you get confused about."

"It might just make my heart skip a beat!"

Damn, I almost started flirting.

Good thing she was oblivious, nerdy Usuzumi.

No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t the time for such things.